


Monochrome World

by Yrindor



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Uchiha Itachi, Blood, Gen, Introspection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 13:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6612418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yrindor/pseuds/Yrindor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The landscape around him may be black and white, but Itachi has never been able to see the world in such simple terms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Monochrome World

**Author's Note:**

> Set during Itachi's time in ANBU.

Sitting in the cave on the side of the mountain, Itachi looked out over the snowy landscape. It was silent save for the occasional rush of wind across the barren mountaintop. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but fresh snow and bare rocks; a monochrome world of black and white.

He had been lucky to find this cave the night before, just as a snowstorm had blown in. It wasn't really a cave, more of a depression in the side of the mountain that offered him scant shelter from the blowing snow and howling wind. The rest of his team was somewhere on the other side of the mountain, scouting out their targets and driving them towards him. Until they sent the signal, he had nothing to do but wait.

Despite the cold, he couldn't risk a fire. He huddled against the back wall of the shelter, his ANBU mask facedown on the floor next to him. His sharingan lay silent to conserve energy; he wasn't sure what lay ahead, and he didn't need it up here now, not when there wasn't another living creature in sight.

In the silence, he looked out over the landscape. In his ANBU uniform, he blended into the background; just another spot of black and white in a field of the same.

It couldn't stay that way forever though. Around midday, when the sun filtered weakly through the thick clouds, he heard the distant cry of a crow. It called again, closer this time, and he looked out of the cave to see the lone bird circling closer, a black shadow against the pearl sky.

It was his sign.

Silently, he slipped on his mask, the red lines adding a splash of color to the monochrome landscape, his eyes glowing red behind it. He stepped out of his shelter, bracing himself against the wind as he left the first tracks across the pristine snow.

He didn't have to wait long before he saw movement coming over the crest of the mountain. The enemy nin, dressed in all black themselves, scrambled away from the ambush Itachi knew had taken place just out of his sight. Once they crested the peak, they dropped their guard, seemingly content that their ambushers had given up pursuit.

They never saw Itachi waiting in front of them.

He struck as they turned to look back, slowing ever so slightly as they reassured themselves that they were no longer being pursued.

Itachi's blades flashed as they passed him, and the snow was suddenly stained with splashes of crimson. They didn't see him until it was too late; they were so intent on looking behind them that they never saw the shadow in front of them until his kunai flashed across their throats.

All three shinobi fell to the ground. They had to know it was futile, but they still struggled briefly, their survival instinct making them scramble desperately at the snow until they fell still. Itachi fell still as well, looking out at the landscape that surrounded him. If he looked behind him, the world was still pristine. Black and white. Peaceful and silent. When he turned though, the monochrome world was stained with red, marred by the scars of hurried footsteps gouging the snow until they ended in the bloody circle at his feet.

He made his way back to his shelter, no longer as concerned with moving silently now that there was no one to risk discovering him. He would rejoin the rest of his team in the village at the foot of the mountain tomorrow, but for tonight, he was alone.

He stopped just outside the entrance to the small cave, removing his mask and scrubbing the blood off of it with handfuls of fresh snow.

As night fell, he set the mask on the ground beside him and let his sharingan fall dormant once more. The world returned to its monochrome; the crimson that stained the snow in the distance turning black in the moonlight.

The world around him was black and white, but Itachi found no such peace in his thoughts. Alone on the mountaintop, he found his mind wandering to the ninja he had killed. Who were they? Did they have families who would mourn their passing, or had they been selected for this mission because they had no such ties, because they were considered expendable? Did they agree with the mission, or were they simply following the orders that had been given to them? Did they believe their path was right and the Konoha-nin sent against them were wrong, or did they sometimes wonder if the opposite was true? What was right, and what was wrong?

The world around him was black and white. ANBU, the hidden villages, individual clan elders, they all wanted to reduce the world to a simple dichotomy. The entire ninja world seemed to operate in black and white, but Itachi had always seen in shades of grey. Shades of grey that made him look at the crimson stains on battlefield after battlefield and wonder if there wasn't another way.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments and feedback are welcome and appreciated.


End file.
